Cable winders are quite common amongst cable users for storing telephone or other utility cords. By using a cable winder, the user avoids the messy twisting, kinking, crinkling and coiling up of extended cables. However, a major problem with the conventional cable winders is the axial twist created by the winding action of the stored cable along the rotational axis of the winder case. This axial twist often results in cable damage since for every turn of winding the cable, it twists the centre core 360°. The more turns the cable winds, the greater the damage is resulted from the axial twist. While ordinary electrical cables may be able to sustain some extents of twisting, it will create unmanageable damages to optical fibre cables due to the inherent physical properties of these cables which limit the bending radius of the optical fibre within the cable.
One solution to solve this problem was to extend the stored cable from both ends of a cable winder such that the axial twisting action created by extending one end of the cable is compensated by the axial twisting action created by extending the other end of the cable in an opposite direction. An example is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/963,264 (published on Apr. 11, 2002). Such traditional double extension method is evidently unsatisfactory for the simple reason that it is undesirable to extend both ends of the cable.
Attempts have been made to address this double extension shortcoming in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,396 (issued Mar. 10, 1992 to Burke) teaches a telephone cord retractable reel assembly which allows one end of the phone cord to extend while the other end remains stationary. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,718,310 (issued Feb. 17, 1998 to Gallo) discloses a telephone cord winder which does not require both ends to be extended at the same time. These winders are designed for telephone cords and are not suitable for optical fibre cables since electrical circuitry connectors are required in telephone cord reels to ensure conductivity of electric signals. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,655,726 (issued Aug. 12, 1997 to Peterson et al.), an uni-directional cord take-up reel which devoid the need for electrical connectors is disclosed. Another example for such cord reel is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,961 (issued Jun. 18, 2002 to Mastrangelo) directed to optical fiber cable storage. These types of reels, however, are still subject to axial twisting as the reel turns and causes the cable to be twisted in the middle region of the reel.
Endeavours have also been made to minimize attenuation of the minimum-bending radius of optical fiber cable with a view to preserving the physical property of the cable. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 6,349,893 (issued Feb. 26, 2002 to Daoud) teaches a retractable storage reel specifically designed for optical fiber cables by ensuring the minimum radius of curvature of the reel barrels is equal to or greater than the minimum bend radius of the optical fiber cable. However, this design requires the cable to be extended from both ends simultaneously. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,413 (issued Apr. 24, 2001 to Walters et al.), it provides for an optical fiber cable reel which avoids the axial twist problem. However, a user must return the connector panel to the centre of the reel before extending or retracting the cable, thus requiring the user to remove all connection every time when the reel is used.
It is therefore highly desirable to design a cable winder which only extends and retracts one end of the cable and, at the same time, avoids the damaging effects created by axial twisting and yet able to minimize the attenuation of the cable due to bending.
It is also advantageous to be able to lock a portion of a paid-out length of the extended cable by ratchet-pawl action, and to automatically rewind the extended cable by simply releasing the ratchet-pawl lock without having the need to resort to special tools.